War of the Worlds – review

I was in two minds about War of the Worlds (t). Spielberg is the Michael Crichton (t ) of movies: a must see, but you're sure you'll be disappointed by the ending. Nothing new there. Tom Cruise is one of the factors which make a movie 'wait for the DVD', and a re-make of a re-make, of a classic novel also doesn't inspire. But it's summer and there's not a lot else on. So we went.
And it was surprisingly good. Very good in fact (although we'll get to the ending in a minute). Cruise, bless his totally barmy self, was even good. Of course, a clean cut, half pint sized guy is completely unconvincing as both a dock worker or even a delinquent father with one grown up and one small kid, but once we got over that bit, he was good. The crying scene where he has to sing for his daughter almost, very nearly, looked like acting. I was genuinely impressed.
No matter what else, however, this is the movie that will always be remembered as the one where TC gets sucked up into an alien's anal sphincter. Superb stuff. And on his, er, rapid re-emergence from said hole, the fact that he's completely clean and un-slimed is only a minor disappointment overall –this is Hollywood after all.
The story clips along. Lots of gratuitous violence. Very, very funny scenes of US troopers (National Guard?) bravely giving their lives so that innocent civilians can live (again, this is Hollywood) and not one clear scene of friendly fire (Hollywood). Tim Robbins does an excellent job of an insane vigilante, but does give the impression of 'why am I in this movie' at times. And the special effects are really, really special.
Like Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds will age very, very quickly. This is one to see at the cinema, but it is probably not one we'll want on our DVD shelf. It's just too predictable, far too Hollywood, and a bit too sweet for a scary movie. (Unless of course the director's cut comes with a properly slimed Cruise in the anal scene.) The two actors who play the kids are pretty good. I thought, Justin Chatwin, the older one, who seems to be about 27 but, based on Cruise as his dad, is probably supposed to be 13, did an excellent job. His sister, an actress with the 'give-me-a-break' name of Dakota Fanning was also good, although a typical Hollywood child star: awesome adult like acting one minute, complete childish screaming the next. (Be warned: this kid can really scream! Take earplugs.)
The one major problem with the movie is the ending. It is completely and utterly crap. Don't you hate movies that make a good job of keeping to logic and reality (even fantasy reality) only to suspend it at the end. Total rubbish, and completely puke inducing. Spielberg has his reputation to think of. He should have killed off Richard Attenborough in the first Jurassic Park, but didn't, and his attempt to generate 'relief' by the ridiculous survival of, not only one of the main actors, but also of the whole of Boston, won't impress anyone living outside of Massachusetts.
Still, on the whole, if War of the Worlds is still on in your area, it's worth a look, even for the anal scene.
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